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Lysistrata - Play at the Burton Street Theatre, Darlinghurst
Opens Thursday, 11th March 2004

Impulse Theatre Company is proud to announce a Grotowski Workshop production of Aristophenes' classic war of the sexes comedy, Lysistrata.

"This is Impulse Theatre's first production of the year. It is a great play that is relevant now as it was two and half thousand years ago," said Michael Gillett, Producer.

Synopsis: Like you would expect of any self-respecting Greek chick, Lysistrata is totally over the fellas of Hellas and their testosterone fuelled polis politics. She and her suffering sisterhood of the other waring city-states are sick of the never-ending succession of wars being fought throughout the land for the usual, lame, territorial excuses masquerading as moral high ground. The reality is their husbands are never home, their sons are being slaughtered and there is constant hardship on the home front.

Under the leadership of Lysistrata, the spunkiest of the Athenian women, they all decide to take matters into their own hands. They capture the Acropolis and declare that they will not have sex with their men or release Treasury funds from the Acropolis until peace is negotiated.

The men, however, don't take this lying down. The lines are drawn. Battle has begun.

Impulse Theatre workshop productions are based on the teaching principles of famed Polish theatre director, Jerzy Grotowski. Using intensive physical training combined with ritual and group impulse, Grotowski trained the actor to spontaneously give their whole body and mind in performance. The aim of theatre, he suggested, was essentially therapeutic: to confront audiences in a way that enabled 'renewal'.

Director, Stephen Wallace, is best known for his award-winning film and TV work. Amongst his better known features and telemovies are Blood Oath, For Love Alone, Turtle Beach, Stir, The Boy Who Had Everything, Mail Order Bride which collectively have won or been nominated for nearly 20 Australian Film Institute Awards. He has worked with some of Australia's most distinguished actors, such as Russell Crowe, Sam Neill, Bryan Brown, Greta Scacchi and Jack Thompson. Stephen also has extensive theatre experience spanning some twenty years and is a keen exponent of Grotowski method.

"We chose Lysistrata because the Grotowski workshop contains mostly women, who are more open to new methods in my experience, and this play is about women. Lysistrata is also a very physical play and so suited to the Grotowski physical training. It is, after all, a play about sex. And the play contains opportunities for the ritualistic singing and harmonies that is so integral to Greek drama and in so doing, also accessing that spiritual sense of theatre that Grotowski sought to achieve. As director, I wanted to investigate how some Grotowski methods applied to this great comedy," said Stephen Wallace, Director.

Lysistrata opens at the Burton Street Theatre in Darlinghurst on 8pm, Thursday, 11th March.

We hope that has got you aroused - but if you want to be satisfied come to Impulse Theatre's new production of Lysistrata. Tickets are available at the box office at Burton Street Theatre, 39 Burton Street, Darlinghurst (corner of Palmer Street, opposite the Tap Gallery). Or to pre-book your tickets, call 9660 5725. Tickets are $20, concession tickets are $15 and Wednesday discount tickets are $12.

For Media Enquiries, contact Sarah Runcie on 0402 107 043 or email sarahruncie@hotmail.com.
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